Powered paraglider pilot fined for buzzing Hawke’s Bay beach
A man who flew his powered paraglider too low over his Hawke’s Bay home has been fined $2000.
Haumaona Mark Lawrence made the low flight above the beach in front of his house on January 6.
He flew between a seawall and his son, Adam, who filmed him as he passed.
Lawrence was prosecuted by the Civil Aviation Authority and appeared in the Hastings District Court yesterday.
He pleaded guilty to a charge of operating an aircraft in a careless manner.
Lawrence’s lawyer James Rainger told Judge Max Courtney that Lawrence had pleaded guilty at the earliest opportunity.
‘‘He certainly regrets this. It seems the concern was he was flying low, which he doesn’t dispute,’’ Rainger said.
He said Lawrence was flying at a speed of 16kmh and 18kmh, ‘‘which is not in top range for that aircraft’’.
‘‘He was not aware his son was going to jump out on the beach,’’ Rainger said.
Courtney said a still photograph of the incident showed Lawrence’s feet were below the concrete retaining wall and he was ‘‘quite clearly very close to people who were shown in those photographs’’.
He was convicted and fined $2000 and ordered to pay court costs of $130.
The Civil Aviation Authority began investigating after it was alerted to a short clip of the flight posted on the internet.